Pieces and Love

Tea, anyone?

2012-02-13T20:02:00.001+08:00

I just finished this little project. I bought the pattern while we were travelling in Australia over the summer. I don’t like to have nothing to do with my hands and I must have ran out of project, so this one was nice and easy to carry around.

It is from Ella & Skysie Designs (# 575). The design was pre-printed on a piece of calico, I don’t think I really liked it: I found the printing a bit to thick to be covered by 2 strands of embroidery thread, and I would I’ve used a prettier fabric. Anyway, I made a copy of the pattern so I can do a second one later.

Obsessed

2012-02-09T14:52:00.001+08:00

Since coming back from Japan, I’ve been ‘obsessed’ by Japanese food, so simple, so fresh.

This was our dinner a couple of days ago: Chicken Teriyaki with rice and Asian salad.

Asian salad recipe:

white cabbage
cucumber
red pepper
red onion
sesame seeds

Slice all the veg very thinly. In the salad bowl, mix 3 tablespoon of light soya sauce, 2 tbsp of Japanese vinegar, 1 tbsp of sesame oil and a teaspoon of sugar. Then add the veg, sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds (black and white). And Ta Dah! Ready.

And here is what we had yesterday nigh:

Fish marinated in Teriyaki sauce (Teriyaki is my new found best friend in my kitchen) with simmered lotus roots and snow peas. The recipe for the lotus roots can be found in this book:

I also bought another book:

Didn’t I say that I was obsessed by Japanese cooking!

My sewing machine and I

2012-02-07T18:23:00.001+08:00

I have not spent a lot of quality time with my sewing machine recently. And I did not realise I missed her (yes, she can only be a HER), but after the few days I spent in Japan at Tokyo Dome, I could feel I needed some one-2-one time with her. So I did, yesterday, while the kids were ready before switching the lights off.

I finished my second Schnibble, I just had 2 borders to sew, and now that this top is finished I like it as much as my first Schnibble.

Now I only need to go through my fabric and find some backing! Anyway, this will have to wait, I now have a backache that prevent me from bending. Grrrrrr…..

Adventure in knitting–Part 2

2012-01-31T22:29:00.000+08:00

Remember the red cardi, I did a couple of months ago. Maud for whom I knitted for, seemed to have liked it, she said it was like a cardi from Bonpoint. I was very happy with this compliment and when I saw her during our holiday in France I asked her whether there’s something I could knit for her. She only wished for a blue hat with a big pompom. After a quick search on the Bonpoint’s website, I found a very simple hat for 54 Euros (in sale! Initial price was 77). Are they mad?!… Who want to spend so much on a hat (and a very simple with that)?

So back in S’pore, I’ve found some thick yarn and produced a blue hat with a big pompom, and a huge bulky cowl to go with it and keep her warm during winter. All of this for less than S$40 (24 Euros)!

A big thank you to my model, the temperature is 34 degrees C in S’pore, not the best time to wear a hat and a cowl.

Adventure in knitting

2012-01-29T22:09:00.001+08:00

Not blogging does not mean not crafting. Not a lot of sewing, but I kept busy knitting, it is easier to carry around while travelling.

I’ve seen this vest at …Jusqu’à Jupiter, and loved it. Just before Christmas, I finished it. It was my Christmas present for Juliette. I was not sure whether she would like it or not. I used some Jet yarn from Patons. I worried it would be itchy, and that she would not want to wear it. I was Oh! so wrong. She wore it everyday while we were in France, as if she had nothing else to keep her warm.

Still on the knitting front, I’ve been lucky enough to participate to a Test Knit for Susan from Ashcroft-Hempsall Designs. Leaves on the line is a lovely pattern that has changed my way of thinking. No rows counting, almost no stitches counting either. Susan’s shawl has two sections: the first section used 40% of the yarn, the second one 60%. This makes the design extremely flexible, one can make the shawl as big as wishes without having to recount the stitches. In this case, Susan asked the testers to use 100g of fingering yarn. I got it wrong and used DK. Still, I love the result. The yarn, Shilasdair Luxury DK, is from Tangled Yarn. I ordered it on line and I can only recommend this company: the service was very courteous and fast. As for the pattern, you can buy it from Susan (look for the last page, there’s one of my pictures!)

More knitting progress very soon!

Galette des Rois

2012-01-20T17:25:00.001+08:00

This is a French tradition, 12 days after Christmas, on January 6th, it is time to welcome the Three Wise Men, the Three Kings. The way we do it in France is with a Galette des Rois in which a small stone is hidden. The person who find it in its slice, is then crowned King or Queen for the day. To determine who is going to get which slice of the pie, the youngest kid around the table goes under the table and each time a slice is cut, the little one under the table tells which guess is to received it.

Here is the recipe for the Galette des Rois.

You will need:

enough all-butter puff pastry to cut 2 large 30cm-circles;
200 g of almond powder
100 g soften butter
80 to 100 g sugar
2 eggs beaten, separately
a drop of vanilla extract

In a bowl, mix the sugar, the soften butter, the almond powder and mix with an electric mixer. Then add one egg at a time. One egg might be enough, the frangipane needs to be thick enough, not runny.
Roll the puff pastry thinly and cut out 2 large circles (30/32 cm diameter).
Set one circle on a baking tray. Spread the frangipane on the top and put the stone on it.
Take the second circle and cover the frangipane. Press both circles together with a fork. With the left over of the egg, coat the top circle, then use a knife to draw some lines crossing over.

Here a few stones from my collection. I buy them from my local bakeries in France, some of them came from Vietnam (and they will probably never make it to a pie, I like them too much).

Welcome 2012

2012-01-06T23:06:00.001+08:00

New year’s resolutions, old year’s review… not this time.

Of course, I could make an enumeration of my finished projects, put on a slide show, but there’s the archives for this. And concerning the new year’s resolutions: I could make lists of old projects I want to finish, of new ones I want to start. I could start a self improvement programme, a house improvement one, a husband/kids improvement action plan… decide to look blog-perfect. But honestly, I have no time for this, I rather be knitting, sewing, cooking and sweating (Yeah any calories’ intake needs to be burnt at the gym).

Only one thing, this year will be a Happy Year. And it started quite well: today the four of us, my teens/pre-teens and myself were all in a good mood at the same time (if you’re a mum of teens, you know it’s enough to celebrate). Oh I said happy year, not perfect year: Philippe is travelling.

So to all of you, readers, family, anonymous…

I wish you a very Happy New Year!

Where are you from?

2011-12-28T02:21:00.001+08:00

The other day a shop assistant asked me this question: “where are you from?” (Should I add that the person asked with a foreign accent too). Interesting question. My usual answer: I’m French on the passport (and the accent), English in the heart, and at the moment I live in Singapore.
When I tell you I’ve been home for the holiday… I’m not giving you much information.
This holiday I’ve been in London.

I am not a great fan of Christmas, but in London it feels different, I can’t explain why. Anyway, I promised myself, if I ever happen to live in England again, I will celebrate Christmas there, in my own home, planning the menus, getting all stressed out by the event.
We’ve been in Lyon too.

If anybody is serious about food, the place to be is ‘Les Halles de Lyon’, you’ll be spoiled with choice and the quality of the products. How many different kinds of blue cheese does one need?
And of course some family time (with more food).

Happy Holidays to all!

Celebrations: Sew much love!

2011-12-16T07:53:00.000+08:00

This is when I normally start crying… writing about my children make me teary! I think I’ve already explained all of these emotions in several posts here, and here for example. So no more words, just pictures of Alice’s quilt which I managed to have finished for her birthday.

And you can always trust the cat to find the best sleeping spot!

Celebrations! More finished projects

2011-12-13T18:16:00.001+08:00

I’ve been helping Santa with a few things:

Kina is a very simple, fast project. I’ve knit size 2 in 3 days. It’s a top down cardi, one button, no seam. The perfect project of a little girl.

Little toboggan (jumper and hat) have been easy knits too. It’s my first stranded knit, not as difficult as I thought. I love the result, but I think I should have done a smaller size. Oh well, the little boy will grow fast and might be file it up very soon.

Sadi was started it back in July, the body was done within a couple of weeks, the sleeves followed fast but I don’t know why it took me so long to finish it. I love the colour, the 3/4 length sleeves and the ‘no-button’ neck closing. I could be tempted to keep it for myself :-D.

Now excuse me, I need to go to the Post Office.

Elephant Parade

2011-12-12T17:34:00.001+08:00

There’s always something happening in S’pore: an exhibition, a sport event, a cultural one… and at the moment we have the Elephant Parade.
As much as I have allergy to Xmas glitter, bling, I love the Elephant Parade. I’ve been trying to catch some of those cutties. There are 162 decorated baby elephants all around the city, I ‘met’ a few of them.

Oops! I have also caught another parade on Orchard Road… A&F is opening a store this week, hence the half naked, waxed, photo-shopped models… It must be much nicer to do an opening in December in Singapore than in Paris…
Here the album of all my elephants, minus the boys…

Elephant Parade

VIEW SLIDE SHOW

DOWNLOAD ALL

Celebrations! Brother and Sisters

2011-11-30T10:02:00.000+08:00

My kids are expert in driving me mad, and to be honest, I am expert at getting mad at them. They can be grumpy, nagging each other, they call each other names. But from time to time, actually much more often than that, they show each other affection and my heart melts.

We must be doing something right. Celebrations!

Celebrations! SAL finished and ready for Xmas

2011-11-27T09:27:00.000+08:00

I’ve been told that I should celebrate what I do more. So time for Celebrations! I’ve finished my Xmas banner, and it is so lovely. Red work has always been a favourite of mine, and it is the perfect match for Christmas decorations.

Thank you very much Lesley Boost from Sew Happy Me for sharing this with us. I really enjoyed doing it and the ‘manageability’ of this project.

Lets the Celebrations begin!

A very (very!) late birthday

2011-11-23T18:08:00.001+08:00

How bad is that? Alice turned 16 more than 2 weeks ago and I have not post any pictures of the B’day girl? Even worst, no B’day cake, no party? Not that I did not offer to organise a ‘big’ party for her, but she did not want it. And as far as the B’day cake is concerned and to set the record straight, she had some cake on her B’day, and she also had a ‘small’ party, brunch with her family and her best friend… :-)

On the same day, I put her in a plan for London to sit two days of entrance exams for a boarding school. Seeing her going through security, I realised that she was starting her own life; in a few months, she will probably leave Singapore and go to study in the UK, she will make her own decisions away from us, she will start to plan for her future, her mind buzzing with projects. I just hope that I, or more objectively, we have done a as-good-as-possible job. I hope she will have the confidence and the reason to make the decisions that suit her, that she will be a caring person but not to the point that she loose herself, that she will be proud of her accomplishments and still respect other (and that she will remember what we did for her when comes the time of looking for a nursing home for her old parents… :-) My girl is not a baby anymore.

I’ve just scanned some of her baby pictures, could probably cry doing it. How can I make her understand how much love I have for her…

The simple pleasures of house chores

2011-10-23T17:10:00.000+08:00

Disclaimer:

If you live a ‘normal’ life (working, educating, taxi driving the children, cooking, ironing, dusting, mopping…), then you should close this page and not read further.
If you are my husband, you might want to save this and use it to your advantage once our life is back to ‘normal’.

The rest of the population (probably 3 to 4 persons) will understand. I am privileged enough to have a live-in helper, a nice lady that cooks for us when I don’t ‘have time’, that does most of the housekeeping and ironing. However, this makes me feel inadequate as a mother/wife/’home maker’. Where does my time go? Am I losing my soul leisuring around? How many knitted scarves or quilted blankets one must make before it is too much (especially if you live in a perpetual summer)? What example do I set to my children, to my girls?

But on Monday, armed with my broom, my brush, hot water, vinegar, I dusted, I scrubbed, I cleaned and I felt very satisfied. Life was almost normal, the children were revising, helping each other, and I felt I had accomplished something.

Home(s)

2011-10-21T11:27:00.000+08:00

Rue d’Alésia – Paris - France

Chiltern Avenue – Bushey – UK

Old Heathbourne – Bushey Heath – UK

Cours Marigny – Vincennes – France

Am Tiefenberg – Gerresheim – Germany

Rue de Sèvres – Ville d’Avray – France

Rue de la Ronce – Ville d’Avray – France

Kingsley – Bushey – UK

Park Road – Bushey – UK

Coronation Road West – Singapore

These are the name of all the places I lived with Philippe; ten homes is 18 years. One day I will make an embroidered panel with all of them. Something like this:

{source – from Gardners 2 Bergers}

10 meters

2011-10-19T19:14:00.000+08:00

10 meters… that’s how long is this binding.

and here a sneak peek of what I will be able to show you in a couple of weeks.

Autumn

2011-10-16T16:06:00.000+08:00

You know what I miss the most in S’pore? I really, really miss the change of seasons. I miss the crispy cold of Winter (some will say the dark humid days). I miss the wake up of nature in Spring (other will say the endless rainy days). I miss the coolness at the end of a hot Summer day (I hear you saying what hot Summer day?). I miss the warm colours and the smell of Autumn (who’s thinking gloominess?).

Until we moved, I did not realised how the seasons rhythm our lives. I remember our first year here, my mind and body were still on ‘holiday’ mode in December. Here it is simple, it is either ‘sunny and hot’ or ‘rainy and hot’, every day, all year long…

When Alice and I were in England a few of weeks ago, I just wanted to stay there and enjoy the changes, the smells, the colours. I wanted to feel chilly in the morning, to wrap in a woolly cardi. I realise it was the end of Indian Summer, and soon the days are going to shorten, rain and cold are going to take over. But I really crave for Autumn colours.

Pattern: Daphne by Lien Ngo

Yarn: Fyberspate Scrumptious 4 ply bought at Darn it and Stitch in Oxford

Love metre: lots and lots of love , will probably knit this again.

Actually, I like it so much, I think I’ll keep it for myself.

Blabbing and stuff

2011-10-13T15:53:00.001+08:00

I have not been posting much recently, it seems that my days are filled with so much ‘stuff’. The kids are off to school by 7:30, and I expected to have more time to blog but I keep asking myself whether my ‘blabbings’ really interest anybody out there. Oh well! I guess I am not blogging for fame, but to keep a record of my life .

So you know not to expect any amazing tips, life coaching, professional-like pictures. It is just me showing some stuff and blabbing away.

The cardi was started way back in July. The yarn is from Sublime. I worked it like the Lady February cardi, top-down. What I like about the hole pattern is its elasticity: squeeze the fabric in your hand and it just bounces back. It’s light but I think will keep a certain little lady (not my Juliette) warm this Autumn.

This skirt is made of Japanese linen. It is relatively heavy but still have some flowiness (is that a word?). The pattern is ‘mine’, and maybe one day, if I find time, I will share it with you.

My love meter for the outfit: very very high

SAL – Week 2

2011-10-05T20:23:00.001+08:00

I really like this week pattern - Love and Kisses (if you have not yet downloaded the pattern, go there quick; it is available until Friday! And Santa is available too). And I love it even more because I think that my embroidery is better than the one on Santa.

This is the first time I am embroidering with batting. Last week I was not quite convinced by the result. My Santa looks puffy, the fabric very tight around my stitches. Obviously, I’ve been pulling my threads to much.

This week, I used a loop and did one stitch at a time: through the fabric, pull from the back, through the fabric again and pull from the top. It is a bit longer, probably twice as long, but the result is much better. So time does not count, with one block each week, I have plenty of time to finish it.

So Happy Quilt Along

2011-09-23T18:35:00.000+08:00

Forget about any resolution I might have made. This is now a fact I CANNOT resist a new project, so I just registered for this Sew Along. 8 weeks, one block a week, that sounds reasonable. Are you joining me? Please, pretty please!

I have 4 different fabrics: two whites with dots, one with poinsettia, one with snow flakes.

I am almost done with Santa. Ho Ho Ho! Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Deep thoughts...

2011-09-22T10:48:00.006+08:00

“[… write that in your blog or better,] stop inflicting your opinions on the world”

Sherlock The Great Game

A visit to Oxford

2011-09-20T11:21:00.003+08:00

Bought this in a nice little shop in Oxford – Darn it and Stitch

From skein to ball…

and becoming this shawlette – Daphné

And please nobody to mentione the ‘no new project’ resolution :D

Progressions

2011-09-06T18:38:00.001+08:00

What did I say about not starting any new project?!… Somebody will have to tell me, teach me.

I have a good excuse though. I need something to wear when A. and I go to the UK next week. And I bought this Batik long ago with the intention to sew something for myself. So it is not exactly a new project, isn’t it?

The pattern is from Vogue. I only sew the skirt, did some piping between the waist and the skirt. I’m very pleased with the result. A bit of hand work, and it will be finished for our trip.

Back to my ToDo list, I am progressing:

Knitting:

Finish Maud’s cardi - this is done, I ran out of yarn so I had to settle for 3/4 sleeves. It now needs blocking, for some reason my knitting goes side-way (pictures will follow with a before and after which should hopefully look better)
Finish MP’s cardi – started sleeve 1, actually knitted 2 rows on sleeve 1 (sorry MP, promise this is now my priority).
Finish my orange top – has not been touched.

Embroidery:

Finish the cups’ panel – one last cup to embroidered.
Finish the Xmas panel with the little mice – Yes, the embroidery is finished, and I have started placing the little mice on the panel.

Quilting:

Finish quilting J’s quilt – unpicked my previous attempt, not fun, then quilted a different pattern (much better). I should be able to finish the binding and show you some pictures very soon.
Finish and quilt Schnibble #2 – haven’t located this little quilt!

Commenting on blogs

2011-08-30T17:46:00.001+08:00

Or a lesson in Savoir vivre.

As an introduction, I’d like to say: I love when people comment on my posts. It makes me feel read, gives me the feeling that I am not only writing to myself, it is my minute of fame, it boosts my ego… You can call me childish, self centred, insecure… Still I love comments. It also gives me more occasion to discover new blogs, new horizons. So when I get a comment it is always a very positive experience. And by the way, thank you Yarny Days and Fides Floris for passing by :-) Having said this, I try as much as I can to reply to the messages even if it is sometimes very late.

And of course, when I visit other bloggers and something catch my eyes, I leave a comment. It is not always a very original message, I try to avoid the ‘wow’-type of comment, try to give positive feed-back, and make sure that my messages are always friendly. I do this because I know that many readers, just read, sometimes copy, but very rarely take the time to write. I never think ‘why should I comment?’ because I know the work bloggers put to bring us nice craft project, nice pictures, valuable information.

Now to the real purpose of this post. There are a couple of blogs that I really, really love. I follow them, visit them every day, looking forward to new posts, getting to know (or at least I think) the writer, feeling that with every new post we are getting closer, we are getting friends. Have I already used the word childish? This is what I am: how can I become friend with someone behind a blog, with no chance to meet?

In the past, I have left comments for my preferred bloggers, put link to their blogs on mine, hope to show my appreciation. A few of days, I comment on a blog I have been following for almost two years. As I was typing, I had the feeling that I might be a little bit to familiar, that my words might be taken the wrong way; but I thought that my ‘friend’ would not mind and would understand the humour. What a surprise, the next day my message had been deleted. I felt so ashamed of having brought my ‘friend’ embarrassment. What shall I do? Send her a message and tell her how sorry I feel? I think I’ll do this.

In the meantime, I have a message to all the bloggers out there:

Please, please reply to our comments, acknowledge that you have read us, acknowledge that you are happy to have comments. I know that some of you receive hundreds of comments, but honestly isn’t it what you/we were looking for when you start blogging, to have an audience? I am blogging not only for the sake of having my journal recorded and feel that other bloggers do the same; if I wanted to write my journal and keep it for myself, I would surely make my blog private, but since I am ‘public’, I am clearly seeking readers, and comments. I might not love all the comments (I doubt it though), but unless they really offensive, I will accept them as they come.

New start…

2011-08-19T12:27:00.001+08:00

Reassessing my priorities…

New year’s resolutions…

I am more a September girl when it comes to this. It must be some kind of reminiscence from my school years when I was waiting for the end of August and the list of stationery supplies needed for the start of the school. After a couple of months off, it felt good to start again, new promises, new targets as if every thing from before was forgotten.

I guess nowadays I still believe that I can start with a blank slate, reinvent myself, be more efficient, more organised, more patient, more active, more healthy, more everything… But I also know it is now time to be MORE appreciative of what I am accomplishing and hope this is really a new start.

This having been said, I still need my ToDo list. So here it is, for the remaining of August and September:

Knitting:

Finish Maud’s cardi
Finish MP’s cardi
Finish my orange top

Embroidery:

Finish the cups’ panel
Finish the Xmas panel with the little mice

Quilting:

Finish quilting J’s quilt
Finish and quilt Schnibble #2

and DO NOT START ANY NEW PROJECT :) This is going to be the most difficult part, because look what I brought back from Australia…

Holidays 3

2011-07-25T22:29:00.001+08:00

Our time in Europe is reaching its end. Time for a quick recap.

A couple of Liberty’s coupon: I am not sure what I am going to do with them yet.
The sky has been this colour almost since we arrived. It is cold, but we are not complaining, we know it won’t last.
MP’s cardi: backs and front are done, knitted on a circular needle in one go. A bit boring, but now I just have to do the sleeves. A shame I did not bring enough yarn.
Impro 2: a red cardi for a 11-year old girl. The idea is to work from top to bottom. Inspiration comes from the Lady February and a Shirdar pattern.
Adelaide: my mum showed me this tuto from Dame Valiste. I don’t know why, but this little turtle has to be named Adelaide. And she is so cute.
A book: reading slowly.
A serie: I might be in love with Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie in Case Histories (BBC).
Being French and enjoying reading ELLE and ELLE à table.
New running shoes: or how to gain back my running mojo. I have found every possible excuse not to run over the past few months, and now I am finding myself short of breath even on the shortest distance :-(

Holidays 2

2011-07-14T17:44:00.001+08:00

Londoners

Holidays

2011-07-13T16:00:00.001+08:00

London

Do I need to comment? Shaelyn #3

2011-07-09T11:51:00.001+08:00

Number 3 fell off my needles a couple of weeks ago. It took me a grand total of 12 hours to knit, stop and block. Not bad.

A girl and her toys!

2011-07-08T19:07:00.001+08:00

I will not spend a day without opening my laptop, I am an iPhone groupie, I love my iPad and all the cool Apps, so I need to share a few of these with you.

At the moment, my life would not be the same without:

delicious: I save, store and go back to all the great blogs I find around, file them by tag, and enjoy some more browsing.
Pinterest: it is like a design board, but easier to organise and maintain. Pin any thing you like (from the web, your pictures…), you’ll see who else has pinned it too, or what else has been pinned from the same source, repinned so stuff you have seen on others’ board. And I love when people repinned what is on my board. It is a bit like a dictionary, going from one entry to the next, finding new horizons. I am getting addicted (I’m done with Facebook, not pretty enough!)
MakeTones (from the Apple Apps Store): take any music from my iPod and transform it into a ringtone. This way I attribute a personalised ringtone for each of my contact. My NSAH2’s is ‘Candyman’ from Christina Aguilera, which makes me laugh each time he rings, the Home’s is ‘It’s Oh so quiet’ (I wish!) from Bjork (which prove that I am cool and have some edgy taste in music).
WhatsApp (Apple again): just starting using this, sure it will be cool to send videos, just need to make sure my friends are all on it.
Storage and Glee: I just discovered this blog, I was starting to pin interesting ideas on Pinterest, when I realised I loved everything, EvErYtHiNgS! So it is now on my Delicious.

Cooking makes me happy

2011-07-05T21:45:00.003+08:00

When I should probably think 'DIET' like everyBODY else (holiday = swimming costume! OK for us it is all year long), the only thing passing my mind is food.

Here are a few things I've been cooking/baking recently.

Clafoutis aux framboises (raspberry clafoutis). The recipe is from the latest Marie Claire idées with step by step photography instructions.

Before and after pictures – no more comment needed

Then yesterday for NSAH2’s b’day, I did prepare a special salad and a Red Velvet cake.

The salad first: we’ve been lunching/dining out all week-end, so no more dining out for us. This is my recipe (yes, mine!) inspired from a salad I had at PS Cafe some time ago.

Ingredients:

green beans, sugar snaps just blanched and then plunged in cold water to stop the cooking process and keep them bright green;
half a mango, a bit under ripe, cut into very thin strips (I used a knife peeler);
dow miow (what is that? and where are you going to find it?)
2 chicken breasts cut in large filets;
a tin of coconut milk;
a cube of chicken stock;
some seeds: sunflower and pumpkin;
a lime juice;
2 tablespoon of fish sauce;
1 teaspoon of brown sugar;
some coriander; chilli (seeds removed); a piece of ginger; a chunk of lemon grass

In a thick pan, grill the chicken until it is just golden. Pour the coconut milk over, add the stock cube diluted in a bit of hot water with the lemon grass, the ginger and chilli. Bring to a boil, then let simmer on low temperature for a long, long time – until the chicken is very very tender and the sauce has thickened (I am not using the sauce, but keep it – it is just so good!).
in a small bowl mix the lime juice with the fish sauce and the sugar; reserve.
in a serving bowl, mix all the greens, the mango, the chicken (shredded), the coriander, the seeds and the sauce.

Fast, easy and healthy!

And for the dessert, I made a Red Velvet. I had my eyes on this cake for some time now. I’ve seen it in Pioneer Woman’s blog, in Donna Hay… So yesterday night was the night!

And No, NSAH2 is not 421, it is just that it was J.’s b’day a couple of days before so I put 2 sets of candles for them to blow.

Somebody is 11!

2011-07-04T15:27:00.001+08:00

The right tools and a geeky book

2011-06-30T18:18:00.000+08:00

Until recently, I’ve been saying that I’ll sew/knit/embroider with any tool. No need for fancy knitting needles or any sewing needles worked for any job. And then gradually I moved from standard knitting needle to bamboo and now KnitPicks… it’s a bit like going from street brand shoes to Prada. I love these needles: strong and soft, elegant.

The other day, my friend gave me a couple of Clover Embroidery 8 needles. What a discovery, sharp and precise. Embroidery get suddenly so much easier.

Look how small an regular my stitches are (sorry, showing off!). This project have been given to my by Tricia: she made the table runner, I’m finishing the embroidered insertions.

Now to the geeky book. Again, I am learning that with the right tool what you are doing get even more enjoyable. I recently bought this book: Thread work unraveled, by Sarah Ann Smith. Geeky right. But great, so much info on threads, tension, getting the best out of your machine, needles. This is how far I read it, and I am getting so much out of it.

BTW, how do you spell ‘unraveled’, one or two L?

BTW2, I can’t wait for A. to go to her photography class, so she can take better pictures :-)

Cooking Pretzels

2011-06-27T15:52:00.000+08:00

This is what we did with J. on Sunday, and a bit a sewing too, but I will come back to this later.

The recipe comes from my preferred Mommy’s blog, here. I wish there was an apps to make you feel the crispiness of the crust and the taste. We just added some sea salt on the wet dough.

Go and make them!

Why do I …?

2011-06-24T15:32:00.001+08:00

Quilt – Part 1

I’ve been thinking about a mini-series on ‘Why do I…?’. And for today, I am starting with quilting.

First of all, how did it start? In 2000, we were just moving back to France from Germany. Alice was at pre-school, Victor and Juliette at home with me. My little guy had a monocluosis and was always so tired, and Juliette was just a couple of months old. My days were very busy and not very interesting, or maybe I was feeling alone and very tired. NSAH2 was travelling so much (this has been a very strong trend in our life), leaving at 5:00 on Monday mornings, and coming back at 23:00 on Friday nights. Having just arrived in a new city, I was on my own most of the time. But the sunshine in my life was on Thursdays, when Cecile, our babysitter, would come look after the kids and help with the housekeeping. Which meant that I had half a day free, just for myself.

The local Art and Culture centre at our little town ran different activities, but the only one on Thursday was Patchwork, from 10:00 to 13:00 every other Thursday. So I registered. Segolene was our teacher, we were a very small group of ladies, some of us new to the art, some more experienced.

My first quilt was a sampler. As you can see, I did not have much idea about colour values. I learnt to calculate, draw, cut and use plastic templates. I hardly do this any more.

Our second project was a mystery quilt. It was pretty easy and it was so interesting to see the different results from a same and unique simple pattern. My quilt has been used over an over, the binding is so thin now, there are a few holes, burn marks. I cherish the memory of the kids wrapped in it, watching TV.

(Don’t I look exhausted? and what a unflattering top!)

Then we moved to pencil and colour pens. On small pieces of paper, we draw this pattern and coloured it. I made a quilt for Victor from it. My little boy was only 3, starting to speak and already in love with lots of girls. He was so proud when his quilt, his ‘ture’ (in his own language) made it to the local exhibition. Once again, this quilt has been very much loved and used. Again, the bidding is fiving, and I learnt that wadding quality was very important to the durability of the quilt. I bought a very poor wadding, and now I can feel it has almost disintegrated. Which is a shame, considering that I spent 20 to 30 minutes to quilt each Sun Bonnet Sue, there are 50 of them all around the border.

I am still there

2011-06-21T23:05:00.002+08:00

but do not have much to show. I’m working on a new project:

Not the best image of my current work, but hope it will keep you waiting for now

PASSED

2011-06-08T13:11:00.002+08:00

First class as a certified STOTT Pilates Instructor

Thank you guys, good work out!

Shaelyn #2

2011-06-02T21:37:00.000+08:00

Now Shaelyn #2 modelled by A. And they beautiful, both of them?

Enough of Shaelyn for now, I need to finish my orange top. I also want to work on my 2nd Schnibble.

Shaelyn – beginning of a series

2011-05-31T15:29:00.002+08:00

Here is Shaelyn #1. Thanks to Tricia who blocked it and modelled it (pictures edited by Alice).

And now Shaelyn # 2
This time, I’ve used Faith from Moda Vera (Acrylic, Mohair and Wool). It makes the shawl fluffy and soft. Shaelyn #2 seems a bit wider and longer than the first one.

I have been experimenting too and added some beads on the last repeat of the pattern. I’ve used the ‘Insert as you go’ method. It is a bit tedious, but the effect is really nice. The beads are visible on both side, and an additional bonus, it adds a bit of weight to the knit which makes it fall nicely.

Matwork… or why Pilates is good for you :-)

2011-05-28T15:16:00.001+08:00

If you know me you know that I like, teach and practice Pilates. Matwork is my motto: great abs, perky butts and glamorous legs, you will acquire on the mat.

If you know me, you also know that I am a knitter, and have recently fallen in love with Shaelyn. But, I never ever block any knit (I know, so sad Aunty! here you need a Singaporean accent). My excuses so far were: I’m not sure how to do it, and I do not have a large enough surface for this.

Of course, I have a big enough surface for this! Pilates mats, two of them! Perfect! I can’t wait for the shawl to be dried.

My 5-minute/5 S$ design wall

2011-05-25T13:41:00.000+08:00

It seems that you cannot call yourself a quilter without a proper design wall! So I NEEDED one.

I did a quick research. The first one I found was well above S$200 for a bit more than a square meter, with frame. I was not ready to pay that much. The second one, a Clover, was S$70. I did not even check the measurements, I was still not ready to pay that much either.

So here is my recipe for a quick/cheap/small design wall that fit perfectly above my sewing table:

a piece of polystyrene foam,
a piece of flannel just a bit bigger than the foam
some staplers
a couple of paper clips
some inspiration from there: Oh Fransson!

Memory lane

2011-05-23T14:05:00.000+08:00

As a kid I spent so many holidays at my grand-parents, either with my mother’s parents or my father’s. One of my grandmothers used to have a grocery, and I remember helping her around. She also used to have her dresses made, and with the excess of fabric, she had dresses made for me too. Not sure whether it was dresses, or just the one, but I remember a very pretty one: in heavy red jersey, with dark blue details. I need to find a picture of it, I am pretty sure I wore it for a school picture when I was in primary school!

On my father’s side, my grandmother was a hairdresser. She ran the salon on her own and while on holiday there, I would help by cutting small pieces of paper for the ‘indefrisables’ (perms), unrolling the ‘bigoudis’ (rolls). The old ladies(yes, in a small village, her clients were almost uniquely old ladies) loved me and my gentle hands. But when there were no customers, I would crochet ‘granny squares’. They were probably not called granny squares at this time. My grandmother taught me how to crochet them, and we would use any yarn, no matter the texture, thickness or colour. I am not sure whether it took us just a summer holiday or more to finish all the squares, but I remember the old ladies complimenting my grand-mother for my skills and my quietness; I remember the blanket we made out of all the squares and the over-used armchair it covered.

So I wonder why I have not succumbed to the Granny Squares’ frenzy yet!… This time it will be Hexagons frenzy: I found theses very easy instructions here: one loop short. I’ve done 4 so far, so quick and it is going to be a great way of using all my left-overs.

Plenty of granny squares on this blog too: Lady Colori.

NB. just spoken to my mum, the Granny blanket had been sold at a car boot sale years ago, and it was huge.

17 years ago today

2011-05-21T16:30:00.001+08:00

Just pictures

2011-05-10T10:04:00.003+08:00

Lady February for Lady Gaia - still need to find the perfect buttons

Shaelyn #2 on my needles – who wants this one? Yarn Moda Vera, Acrylic, Mohair and Wool

More yarn for another baby project – Sirdar Flirt k, bamboo and wool

My kids’ lunch – Tuna melt sandwich from Rachel Allen’s book, Home Cooking; waiting for feedback.

Shaelyn , the shawl that won’t be seen

2011-05-06T22:07:00.001+08:00

Shaelyn is finished and gone. I did not even block it, or photography it.

Shaelyn has been in my Ravelry ‘queue’ for months. And 3 weeks ago, as I was about to finish my orange top, I instead started MY Shaelyn.

Once on my needles, it went so nicely and smoothly. The pattern is easy to memorise. I just had a tiny winy bit of hic-up with the start, and the finish – I was a couple of meters short to finish the last repeat!

This project has made me very HaPPy, even more when I saw my friend’s eyes when I showed it to her. Actually, my first intention was to ask T. for her advice on blocking it. But then she offered to do it for me, and from her comments I got the feeling that she loved it as much as I do. So Shaelyn is going away with her, where the weather is colder than in S’pore.

And as a bonus, I learnt a new trick/technique: Sewn cast off.

No time to blog

2011-05-03T09:42:00.001+08:00

… Sorry… ‘ve been busy recently:

kids on holiday for 2 weeks
2 long-ish week-ends
a visitor from France
a fire in my bedroom (scary!), and 12 men in uniform in the same bedroom at night!
some shopping to replace what have been burnt
2 new knitting projects on my needles (was not supposed to start anything until I finished my long standing project)
a 10k run to train for

This week, promised, I will:

finish my 2 knitting projects
cut my 2nd schnibble
work on my Japanese bag (lots of hand work - ideal while waiting for the kids)
sew a couple of bears

Or NOT.

for the moment, all I want to do is sleep :-)

One very stylish Baby boy

2011-04-29T13:39:00.002+08:00

Ewenn, MP’s Bb #2, has arrived. What a nice, chubby-cheeks, little boy.

I guess that’s make me a Grand Godmother x2.

Where’s time gone?

2011-04-27T15:58:00.001+08:00

It seems that the past three weeks have been so busy, and I have not been able to do much (Do I always say this?). It looks like April will be another miss for the UFO challenge. I guess I’ll have to get used to the idea that not all UFOs are meant to be FOs.

Busy with the kids around on holiday, busy with my friend visiting me, busy with life in general… No time for sewing does not mean no time for knitting. Actually, knitting is more portable: a few stitches at the pool, another few stitches in the car, and again while doing homework…

I now have 3 projects on the go:

The orange ripple: this is an almost 2-year UFO. And it seems that it will stay that way for a couple more weeks! Only have the front left to knit, but I received an order from Lady Gaia’s mum.
Lady February for Lady Gaia. That’s the order: a neutral, goes-with-everything cardi. I loved knitting the Lady February for J. a few years ago. It is a top to bottom knit with raglan sleeves and can easily be adapted to any size. I am knitting it in grey. I know, not very baby-ish, but not all babies have to be in pink. And I am sure that with some girly details, it will make it interesting.
Shaelyn. I’ve seen this shawl on Ravelry for a while now. I guess it is like the Lady February, you can not be a member of Ravelry without knitting one of these. I am sure I can always find use for a shawl in S’pore!

When sewing makes me feel sad…

2011-04-12T20:55:00.001+08:00

This little guy is smiling. I know why: he is going away with Joyce. I am not smiling though, Joyce is going home to the States. I know I am not the only one who’s going to miss her.

Take care!

Pirates arrrgh!

2011-04-09T09:31:00.001+08:00

Should I really comment? This is for my neighbour’s son. Guess what, they’re going to have a Pirates theme carnival at school!

This has been done in less than 30 minutes. I shaped, cut, sewed, put an elastic at the back. Then drew the skull free hand, zigzagged with red thread… and Voila! Done! Juliette was happy to sport her scarier Pirate face.

And now, is this one picture too many?

She’s done it again

2011-04-07T12:01:00.001+08:00

My little girl is on holiday this week so it is the perfect occasion to sew! Here is the PJ she saw. No pattern, I helped her using a short and a dress to shape the top and bottom.

A hat for Lady Gaia

2011-04-05T17:20:00.001+08:00

Lady Gaia’s mum told me that she needed a hat for her little girl, that covers her ears and that stays in place. How I understand her! So many times my kids refused to keep their hat on, taking any opportunity to remove it… and then you worry that they might catch a cold.

The first thing I envisioned was a cagoule. But do you remember those horrid things some kids had to wear at school: acrylic yarn, tight around the face, itchy and so not flattering.

Thankfully, I found this pattern in one of my Sublime booklets.

Should go very nicely with this little top.

About the top: no pattern there. Just garter stitches, and improvisation. I started with the back, then worked the neck line and both sides at the same time.

All in all, I used 2 balls for the top and hat. The yarn is Sirdar, bought at Golden Dragon, and this is what left of the two balls. No waste for these projects.

Now what do you think about the fabric in the background?

A new banner for April

2011-04-02T21:56:00.001+08:00

I know it is not much. It seems that March has gone so fast, and I don’t seem to have produce much. I am not keeping on target, and don’t have the energy to fight back. Far too hot.

A day at Rosie’s

2011-04-02T17:10:00.001+08:00

It was planned for Wednesday. I had rearranged my week so I could spend more than a couple of hours at the shop. I had a great time, a very nice lunch (brown rice with duck), and would have loved it even more if my friend could have been with me as planned.

I am making a ‘carry-it-all’ bag. It is going to take me for ages as I am doing it all by hand, but the Japanese fabrics are so beautiful.

Taking “Liberty”

2011-03-26T22:37:00.001+08:00

Somebody needed (translate – wanted) a PJ. And off course, I had the perfect fabric for this: a bit of Liberty bought during our visit to London last summer.

I tried to find the perfect pattern for he PJ, but I could not find what I wanted. So after several months of procrastination, I went in almost total improvisation. For the top, I used the triangle from a Japanese pattern (this book) and for the short I fiddle with an old and too large PJ of hers and a too small pattern once again from a Japanese pattern. Added a bit a cotton lace (very cheap from Daizo).

I’m pleased with the result and ‘somebody’ seemed to be thrilled with the result.

Forecasting snow falls in S’pore?

2011-03-18T22:45:00.001+08:00

I am playing with this.

My first Schnibble

2011-03-15T10:03:00.001+08:00

Here it is, finished.

What I liked about this project:

It took me just 3 days from cutting to quilting;
It is small and satisfying;
The 30’s prints;
The simplistic quilting.

And best of all, I can now start my 2nd Schnibble.

For the Boy…

2011-03-10T19:05:00.000+08:00

If you go to Rae’s blog, you’ll see that this month is Celebrating the Boy. Actually, it might have been last month, not sure.

Anyway, here is my way to celebrate the BOY (MBPs Bb #2).

I’ve knitted a little something else to go with the stripy kimono. I got inspired by Hilary and her Little Baby Grandpa Sweater. This is my version of the Grandpa cardi, nice and easy cable, woolly but still soft yarn, pattern from Sirdar and can be bought on line at Pattern Fish.

Unconditional love

2011-03-08T19:06:00.001+08:00

Be prepared, no pictures, no craft for this post.

A couple of days ago, a friend, who does not have kids, asked me:

“How to you share your love with 3 kids?”

“I do not share my love” I replied.

“But, how do you find the time?'”

And then I tried to explain to her that I can share my time, I can find ways to have more. And may I say that I am lucky, living in Singapore, I have lots of help at home, I do not have to do the laundry, I do not have to clean the house, I could even free myself from grocery shopping or cooking; I have somebody at home doing most of ‘my’ chores.

But when it comes to love, the only thing I can say is that YOU DO NOT SHARE. How do you explain to somebody that has not experienced it yet, that whatever you do, whatever your children put you through, there is a never-dried out source of love of them, for each of them. It is not a question of finding the time, it is not a question of sharing. From my first kid to my third one, my heart has swollen (could it be the reason why I am over-weight?)

If I think even further, if I think that my kids will (I hope) have babies, my throat starts tightening with emotion. How come that these little persons, who I might not meet for some years, already have this effect on me? I might be lucky to meet my great-grand kids (my Grand Parents are 90 this year), and I already want to embrace them, to tell them how much I love them.

From now on, you must know that I have tears in my eyes, because I start thinking about my great-great grand kids, I will not be there for them, to protect them, and what about their own children, and the children of their children… Oh Gosh! so many of them I will not meet, I will not have time to show them my love…

So, NO, you cannot share your love for your children, you cannot know where it will take you, and until you experience it, you have no idea how your love for your kids will take over everything else.

This being said, next post I will show you some crafting progress, so please come back.

UFO Challenge – I failed February…

2011-03-02T22:39:00.004+08:00

Or to be precise, I did not even try. This month I was supposed to finish UFO #10, but when I looked at it, I decided that UFO #10 could not be considered as an unfinished object, but rather a HSO – hardly started object.

Only one block done, for a 12-block project. No pattern, just a vague memory of a pretty quilt, I can’t even remember where I saw it!

I have not even cut all the necessary fabric. So February UFO will stay as it is, back in its box.

Now it is time to move to March UFO. This is going to be a very difficult one: this is A’s quilt. It has been in ‘progress’ for more than 4 years. I drew many versions, collected vibrant colours, worked on it while A was not around. A. has this effect on me, I want to make things for her, but I always feel shy.

The top is almost done, I have to figure out how to finish the border on which I want to add some appliqué. Then, I will probably send it to a professional quilter if I want to see it finished before she turns 16.

Practical and pretty

2011-02-27T17:43:00.001+08:00

My iron-board is big and wide. I always have difficulties to find the right cover, the one that going to stay in place, the one that will be ‘bumpy’ enough. You might argue that it should not bother me to much as I am not the one in charge of the ironing! That’s right, but I believe that in everything we should seek for practicality and prettiness.

I used this tutorial found at Stop Staring… start sewing! I’ve seen other tutos on the web, but hers is so simple and straight forward. I made a couple of changes: added some wadding (the size of the board plus 1’ all around) for the bumpiness, and two elastics clipped under the board for extra tightness.

Look at the fabric. I could not NOT buy it. Do you see the sign “Reine”, I used to buy my fabrics there when I was young and living in the Paris suburb.

I am now thinking of painting my little stool in blue, and probably use the left-over of fabric to cover the laundry baskets my Grand Father made me.

As I said practical and pretty!

I’ve been schnibbling

2011-02-24T11:50:00.002+08:00

The tittle of this post could have been:

7 hours later – cancelled the gym, cancelled lunch, had a coffee and a soup and kept sewing until the kids came back from school.
My best friend the ripper – did not pay enough attention, and have had to rip a few seams, but honestly the cat did not help, she wanted to, but could not get the colour properly organised!
3 Wallenders later – probably another reason I was not concentrating enough, but you have to love Kenneth Branagh in this role. How can he play an over tired, unhealthy, unshaved police man and still have some sex-appeal?

It took me almost all day to put it together, but it is done. I had a ‘cutting party’ a couple of weeks ago, and could not really decide how to put this little top together. Nothing difficult, but you know, how to balance the colours, how to keep it harmonious and pleasing. After arranging, re-arranging the colours, I could not remember what was the previous version and decided that it will be good as it is.

Still to be done: piece the back with the rest of the 30’s prints, and quilt (machine-quilt). Surely, I can do this before the end of March.

And "Merci" to Béatrice would gave me the inspiration of starting this. Look at her ‘Year of Schnibbles.

Can’t (Teddy) Bear it!

2011-02-22T13:48:00.000+08:00

Our Group is about to lose its Leader. I am sure she would not like to be call The Leader, but to be honest, she is the one who brought us all together!

I met Mandy a couple of weeks after I arrived in S’pore. I remember, as I was shopping, seeing a group of ladies very busy around a tiny batik shop. My instinct pushed me toward them: ‘they must be quilters’ and if not there must be something very interesting in this shop. Within minutes, I had my confirmation: they were QUILTERS, and I also got invited to Mandy’s next quilting meeting (and yes, this tiny shop is full of beautify batiks – Holland Village Shopping Centre, 2nd Floor) …Since then, the Tuesday’s meetings are my little window of sanity. The group has grown, evolved, given birth to a Knitting group, and I am sure, if we push it a bit, we could probably have a Cooking group, a Walking group, a Chatting group…

Anyway, we wanted to do something special for Mandy, and we thought that a signatures Teddy Bear would be a good idea.

But he is so lovely in crispy white and batik, I am not so sure I would like him to be signed on. So I made a little bag to go with it (tutorial from the Pink Penguin, here), so there’s somewhere to sign if the Ladies of the group feel that they can’t “Bear’ signing on Teddy!

Books, books, books

2011-02-15T12:35:00.001+08:00

Apart from knitting, sewing, stitching, running, pilating, taxi-driving the kids, cooking, I like to read (have I already said this before?). Here is my To-Read-List:

Le Projet Lazarus – Aleksandar Hemon: my current reading, finding it difficult to keep my interest on. The New York Magazine said “the best book of the year”. Humm!..
The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls; I think my good friend in England recommended this one.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother – Amy Chua; THE book to read at the moment; when I first tried to get it a couple of week ago, it was sold out. Amy Chua received a large coverage of her book: “It was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better as raising kids than Western ones” says the back cover!
The Help – Katryn Stockett; no idea how I came across this one, it has something to do with the location: Mississippi, the era: 1962, the characters: 3 women.
La carte et le territoire – Michel Houellebecq; this is a Christmas gift, got the Prix Goncourt.
The Lacuna – Barbara Kingsolver; Orange Prize 2010, must be good.

The list would not be complete without crafting books:

A Stitch In Time is a knitting book of Vintage patterns from 1920 to 1949.

The second one is Simple Graces,lots of scrappy quilts <3

At least, no creepy picture of skinless body and skull on this post!

Turning into my Mum

2011-02-12T18:46:00.001+08:00

Surely, one day or another, you gasped at your reflection, walking in the street, and asked yourself “What is my Mum doing here?’, just seconds before you realised that the image was not your Mum’s but yours. When I was a teenager, people I did not know would say hello to me, thinking they recognised my Mum. That used to upset me, but to tell the truth, I look like her since I look like my maternal grand-mother and all the other women on this side of the family.

But today, I realised that I must carry more than just a physical resemblance. When we were young, my Mum used to ‘bake her worries away’; having her hands in the flour would relax her, as if the smell of freshly baked cakes would smooth things.

This week, I baked:

a double batch of Oat, Raisin and Chocolate chips cookies;
a banana loaf;
a batch of plain scones;
and finally, a batch of strawberry scones (in a heart shape), and a batch of chocolate chips scones.

It’s lucky I have three kids to consume all of this!

Too many ideas rushing through my head

2011-02-11T16:07:00.001+08:00

This morning, I wanted to ‘work’ on the tabs of this blog, and decide which blogs I will link. So I opened all the bookmarks I have been saving for some times now, and started browsing through them. And it is when it happened, from one blog I followed a link to another, found a great idea, saved a new bookmark, then follow another link, left a comment somewhere, opened a new tab to remind myself to check something later, and kept jumping from one page to the other… At least one hour later, I’ve added some 5/6 projects to my Wish-to-Do list, saved a few more bookmarks of blogs I want to go back to, registered as a follower, but had not progressed at all on the selection of my 'best, preferred blogs.

It is now time for me to practice the Cello (exam in a couple of weeks), I need to prepare for my Pilates classes next week, must be back at 3:00 for the kids (who would have imagined that, at their age, it was so important for them to find me home when they came back from school). I have a Teddy Bear to produce, a Shnibble to sew, a jumper to knit. I need some fabric for the great top I just spotted. I must make time for a run this afternoon. I need to find a nice restaurant to go out with NSAH2, this week-end… And I thought that I would have more time once not working outside. The trouble is that time seems to vanish. There are so many things I want to do, and I end up rushing through my days wondering where they’ve gone. I sometimes wonder whether I am intentionally making my life to rush, so I don’t have to think about what I accomplish or NOT!

Knitted

2011-02-10T15:06:00.004+08:00

Should I start all my post by ‘Yes, I finished it!’? It seems that I am quite good at starting new projects, but have more difficulties finishing them.

During Christmas holiday, I start knitting a little, fast kimono for MP’s Bb #2. Her little baby boy will be borned in April/May, the beginning of winter, in Australia. He will need something to keep warm, but easy to put in, with 2 little ones, MP won’t have time to fiddle with not-always-easy-to-fit-through-the-neck tops.

The pattern is from Joji Locatelli and can be found on Ravelry. I had to adapt so it worked with my yarn; I am not the best when it comes to check the gauge. So off course I had a false start, frogged it and started again. I modify the neckband, using a grey bias rather than knitting it. And for good measure, I knitted a little hat to go with it (no pattern here, just knitted and improvised).

After such a successful finish, my fingers were ready to start a new something… but I’ve decided against it, this year must be a year of FINISHES, so I dug out my ‘Orange Ripple’ which was started almost 2 years ago. I am working on it right now, determined not to start another knitting project until this one is done. The colour gives me energy and the yarn dry still nice to knit.

There’s a new crafter in town

2011-02-02T16:19:00.002+08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen (sure I have at least one reading from time to time),

Beware, there is some strong new competition in the Crafting world. Here are the details.

Name: J. for Juliette

Age: 10 (and a half)

Signe particulier: one green eye, the other one brown

What has she done?

Started playing with my sewing machine a week ago (lots of fancy stitches).
Decided she want to sew a skirt for her friend in England (if you are her friend –best- in England, leave the room now, you are not supposed to see this).
Bought (on Mum’s PayPal account) a skirt pattern online.
Dragged Mum (no, not really) to Spotlight and chose a pink-ish fabric.
Assembled the 33 pages of pattern.
Asked Mum to cut the necessary pieces.
Pinned the pattern onto the pink-ish fabric.
Sewed all the parts together, asked the occasional questions to Mum, and for a bit of help…

and Voilà! Skirt done, with nice ribbon and fancy stitches.

I am so proud of my girl!

Kitty Quilt–UFOs Challenge #6

2011-01-31T23:17:00.002+08:00

It is time yet? Can I speak (write) about it? Can I show it? I’ve finished the Kitty Quilt on time (a week early, actually) for the UFOs Challenge 2011’s target.

The story of this quilt starts 2 1/2 years ago. At this time I was discovering the Blogosphere, and one of the very first blog I started following was Oh Fransson. In August 2008, she made this quilt, so fresh. The same month, I went to the NEC in Birmingham with my friends and my Aunty. And my Aunty being my Aunty, when I spotted the Kitty fabric, she could not resist buying it for me. And I couldn’t say NO either!

I started cutting, piecing, basting… but then I cannot remember what happened. Was is the year we had 3 au pairs in 7 months? Was is the year I commuted a lot between work and the kids activities? Or was it the year I promised myself I will learn to machine quilt and save the quilt for this purpose?

Anyway, as they say, live happens and now some years later it is done, machine-quilted and I still love it (which might not be the case of other quilts on the UFOs list)!

A New banner and a New look

2011-01-30T11:49:00.002+08:00

I was not entirely satisfied with the previous ‘look’. I am trying to spring-clean it, and even now I am not 100% sure about it. Anyway, I’ll leave it as it is for the moment.

What I like though, is the addition of the tabs, just under the banner. If you used to visit my ‘blog list’ on the side, it has now moved under the tabs, sorted by ‘genre’. I have added a lot more links and remove a couple. Hope you don’t mind.

Loaded brownie

2011-01-23T16:31:00.002+08:00

Once again, thank you to Sarah from Clover Lane for the inspiration. And now I am telling you why.

Starting from the beginning: I have a problem with after-school snacks. The kids come back home sometimes at 3:20, or 4:05, or 4:20 or 5:20. Sometimes I pick them up at school directly after their activities. Which means that there’s no set time for the mid-afternoon snack, except that, theoretically, no snack is allowed after 5:00 (but honestly, when they come back from swimming or football training, I do not have the heart to say NO).

Until this week, I always had ‘convenient’ snacks at home (read ‘processed cookies, biscuits, cereals bars’) and of course some fruits. And until this week, there was always a fight when the last of the kids arrive at home and there was nothing left. I’ve notice that those manufactured snacks are not satisfying and the tendency is to eat one after the other.

So this week, I baked a Victorian sponge cake, some banana and chocolate muffins, some honey and spice cookies and a brownie. The recipe is simple and I have used it many times, it has its space in my ‘black book’ (the one that the kids say they will fight for over my not-yet-cold body). I think it was a recipe from Martha Stewart. And this is why I say ‘Thank you, Sarah’: the added chocolate bars, that will not have time to melt completely during the baking process!

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter softened: 1/2 cup
Unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped: 4 ounces
Sugar: 1.5 cup
Instant espresso powder: 1 teaspoon
Vanilla extract: 2 teaspoon
Large eggs, lightly beaten: 4
All purpose flour: 1 cup
Cinnamon: 3/4 teaspoon
Ground nutmeg: 1/2 teaspoon
Salt: 1/4 teaspoon
Unsweetened chocolate cut into bars

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Buttered a 9’ square baking pan.
In a sauce pan, over very low heat, melt chocolate and butter together. Let cool slightly, then whisk in sugar, espresso powder, vanilla extract and eggs.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add this to the chocolate and stir until combined.
Pour half of the mixture in the pan, then place the bars of chocolate, and then pour the remaining of the batter. Bake for 30/40 min or until a tooth-pick inserted in the centre comes out slightly wet. Run a knife around the edges and cut is squares.

The bars of chocolate have hardly the time to melt, which make the centre of the brownie all gooey and chocolaty. I can not show any pictures to prove my point, all is gone.

Finishes and starts

2011-01-21T16:30:00.002+08:00

Flowing my previous post, I have been working on the Challenge UFOs 2011 #6. It is coming along, and I am confident that I can make this first challenge on time. I still have a bit of quilting to do on the border, then the binding and it will be one project finished for 2011.

In the meantime, I have a little something else going on. It is not a project as such. I’ve started it over the Xmas holiday just to keep my hands moving.

The pattern comes from Marie Claire Idées. I do not know what I am going to do with it, how I am going to assemble it.

I have another project in waiting. I will start it once the Kitty quilt is finished. I will be using 30’s prints.

In the groove…

2011-01-19T15:23:00.002+08:00

A year of 2011 UFOs challenge, I am off on a good start. Yesterday was my Machine Quilting workshop at Brigitte. I was excited and nervous. I’ve been trying to machine quilt for a long time with no satisfactory result. My expectation were high, and….

and now I roll. Hum! not exactly yet, but the tension with the machine and between ‘her’ and me is now sorted. Yes, the secret is in the tension: the right one for the machine and none in the shoulders.

A couple of more sessions, and I should be on target for this month’s objective.

Brother and Sister

2011-01-13T09:40:00.001+08:00

Those 2 little guys are gone to their new home, I know that the sister has slept in a warm bed.

Simple, simple, simple…

2011-01-12T18:39:00.004+08:00

Not sure whether I could call this a tutorial, a demo, or just a ‘thingy’ (that’s not a word – right!)

Today, I had to wrap two gifts, but the only wrapping paper left at home was Christmas paper (out of season – right!). But I found some old envelops. Probably had them for years, can’t even remember when I last used one of them. One idea following the next, I came with this.

You need:

one large envelop
a ruler
a pen
some sealer-tape
a pair of fancy scissor

From the bottom of the envelop, the sealed part, and mark a dot on each side at 1 1/2’.
Fold on the dots.
Mark 2 dots at the top of the envelop, on the flap, and 2 others opposite these at the bottom of the envelop, on the folded part.
Fold each side, using opposite dots as a guide line.
Open the envelop, and the creases to make this beck-like triangle (not sure what I am speaking about, look at an UHT carton).
Fold the triangles toward the bottom of the box, and secure them in place with a bit of sealer tape.
On the flap part, draw a line.
Use your fancy scissors to cut across the line.
And Voilà! my grocery-like gift bag. Next time, I will decorate the envelop before I make the bag.

For 2011, I would like…

2011-01-11T09:09:00.002+08:00

to instantly slim down;
to learn in my sleep;
to be toned just by the will of my powerful mind;
to be calm and relax when facing the kids’ “demands”;
to get a juicer;
to hate anything sugary or chocolaty;
to finish all my UFOs;
to be super organised';
to grumble not;

So far I got:

a broken bread maker – that was the only way I was able to make decent bread
a ‘playing-funny’ camera – so sad, but that might be the opportunity I was waiting to get a new one;
a bad hair day – humidity = frizzy hair + I am growing old, and my hair are growing white…

Still, I am set to enjoy the day, the kids are all back to school, I am going back to my quilting friends, and it is raining today which means that it will not be to hot.

Souvenir from our Australian holiday

Best ever work

2011-01-01T06:16:00.001+08:00

Happy New Year to all of you

2010 Du fil et une aiguille

2010-12-30T18:05:00.000+08:00

2010 knits

2010-12-28T17:31:00.001+08:00

I am a Scrooge

2010-12-24T18:39:00.002+08:00

I hate Christmas.

When did this start? I do not know, I think it is quite a recent affection. I think I was happy with Christmas when the kids were young. I think I was happy with Christmas when I was younger. But as years pass, Christmas seems more and more stressful for me. I am not organising anything though, and I should just enjoy the festive period. But no, I can not.

Actually, Christmas makes me sad, depressed and cranky. When December starts, I get organised, make lists, plan, set up deadlines, and promise myself that I will enjoy myself, that I will not ruin it for everyone else, that I will keep an open and kind mind. All of this should be easy: I just have to find presents for everybody (not a large family), pack my bags and fly to my parents’ home. Everything should be smooth and easy.

Is it due to my expectations being too high? Is it me being unable to relax and just enjoy? Is it some old family history creeping back? I so wish that Christmas was off the calendar, I cannot wait for January 2nd when the year is new and fresh, when anything is possible, when I can promise myself to make everything nice and better… until next Christmas.

Forgive me if I do not wish you a Merry Christmas, I prefer to wish you good health, supporting family, wonderful kids, amazing partners, fulfilling projects, peace of mind, good reads, surprises, self confidence, comfort of knowing you have great friends… and chocolate.

To all my readers, thank you for stopping by, thank you for your messages

Until next year, take care.

Caroline

Neat knit

2010-12-22T17:53:00.001+08:00

This is our 5th day in ‘gloomy wonderland’. Today fog, rain, everything is grey and unwelcoming, and I still love it!

I bought some very inexpensive yarn the other day (2 Euros a ball), 100% acrylic, but so soft. It is perfect for a baby knit. I have 2 balls in Night blue and 2 balls in Silver grey. I am using this pattern from Joji as an inspiration. I am knitting a size 3-month for MP’s BB #2. This little one will be born at the beginning of Autumn and will need something to keep him warm (any excuse to knit is good, isn’t it?)

A new banner for December

2010-12-20T17:48:00.003+08:00

We are in Europe and were welcomed by snow and cold weather. Just what we wanted. I am wearing socks, shawl, reading by the fire, sipping herb tea to keep me warm. I love it!

Yesterday we went for a walk at sunset, and took a couple of pictures, and made up a new banner.

Now you will excuse me, but I am going yarn-shopping, I need something soft and wooly.

UFOs Challenge 2011

2010-12-16T19:48:00.002+08:00

Jumping onto this virtual wagon – finishing 12 UFOs in 2011. The rules are easy, make a list of your UFOs, number them and wait for Judy (from Patchwork Times) to draw a number and this is the project that will be worked on and hopefully finished for the month (go to her blog if I am not clear).
Here is my provisional list:

A’s quilt – finish borders, quilt and bind;
MP & B’s wedding quilt – finish a couple of blocks, decide on borders, quilt and bind;
Mystery quilt – quilt and bind;
Lady of the lack – machine quilt and bind;
Black, red and white kaleidoscope – quilt and bind;
Cats quilt – machine quilt and bind; DONE
J. Chiaverini sampler quilt – finish to hand sew a couple of block and the border, machine assemble, quilt and bind;
Gold flower kaleidoscope – finish blocks (lots of them), assemble, quilt and bind;
Make-up wallet – hand quilting, assemble;
Cream stars quilt – finish blocks, assemble, quilt and bind
Batik quilt – finish hand quilting, blind

I probably have more, and I am probably too ambitious; I also know which ones are my priorities, so I might bend the rules a bit. 2011 will have to be a ‘finish-projects’ year.
No time for pictures for the moment, I need to finish my packing, we are leaving tomorrow.

Inspired

2010-12-14T21:39:00.003+08:00

I’ve already done a post like this before. But do not worry this is not old age getting to me, it is just that Sarah from Clover lane really inspires me (you can now go straight to her blog using the button on the side).

I have and will most certainly never meet Sarah, but very often, I feel that I would really enjoy being her friend (How many friendship offers have you received, Sarah?). And yesterday, this feeling was quite strong.

Indeed, yesterday I decided to prepare our bags for the holidays. Just to put things straight, we live in Singapore, will spend Christmas with my family in France (13 hour-flight; a big Thank You to NSAH2, who booked the tickets when he realised that I had not the guts to tell my parents we might not come!), then we will fly all the way across the world to Melbourne (13 + 8 hours) to Lady Gaia’s christening (the thing is that A. is the godmother, Lady Gaia’s mum being A.’s godmother and my goddaughter – it runs in the family and this is a very big event for all of us). We will go from Summer to Winter and back to Summer, add the Christmas and christening presents and you get a packing nightmare.

My strategy was to start with the ‘Winter packing’. I dug into the storage boxes trying to locate hats, gloves, scarves, jumpers… realising at the same time that most of the children’s clothes were too small. Followed a big sorting of the winter clothes, I then had to reorganise the storage boxes which lead to more sorting, more organising. 5 hours later, my bedroom looked a mess,but in another couple of hours later my bedroom was neat, my closets organised with a smell of orange blossom (nothing fancy here, just some rice in a jar and 20-ish drops of essential oil; shake it with the lid on! Reopen and enjoy).

Just before going to bed, I read Sarah’s post, we were so in synch! Or are we all in synch at the moment. Do we all go through our closets, sorting, cleaning, organising? Is this syndrome related to the fact that Christmas is approaching fast, very fast?

On this note, I registered to the Fly Lady newsletter: more tips, more routines… I can see New Year’s resolutions coming. Here is one of mine : de-clutter room by room. Again I am inspired by Sarah and her 40 bags challenge from last year.

Oh, you want some pictures! I am not going to humiliate myself showing you my messy bedroom. But here is a picture of what I have been doing.

First they look like this

Then, there’s an army of them:

Project BIG LOVE

2010-12-11T17:26:00.001+08:00

I have been falling behind… I was supposed to finish A’s jumper early in October for our trip to China (Did I mention the ‘traumatic’ experience of getting – or NOT our visas! It is tempting to rumble about the French-Chinese relationships… but it is useless, and hopefully we will have other opportunities to go to China).

Coming back to this knit, it took me longer than expected, but it is now finished, and it looks gorgeous on A. (or is it A. looking gorgeous in it?).

Now back to my needles, I have more projects to finish for Christmas.

RECEIVED

2010-12-09T10:10:00.001+08:00

I have received it! Look how lovely this is. My candle mat is there, not too Christmassy which means that I will have the pleasure to use it all year long. For the coming festive season, it will be with this little angel.

Look closely, don’t you like the fabrics, the colours, the harmony of the patterns.

A BIG thank you Raylee, I LOVE it. By the way go and see Raylee’s blog (don’t we all love visitors?)

PG Tips vs PG tea pillow

2010-12-07T11:54:00.001+08:00

PG what? OK, if you are from the UK,you KNOW PG Tips: it’s is a cheap brand of basic English tea (sorry, I am French and I only drink coffee or posh teas). Every British household had, has or will have PG Tips in their cupboard. From a PG Tips’ tea bag, you will obtain a brown-ish substance, add milk and it will turn beige-ish with little spots, a bit darker. Your taste buds will have trouble to detect any flavour, but you are supposed to drink it hot, so it does not matter much you have already burned your taste buds. Again, this is from somebody that has infused in coffee all her life… You should go to their website just to see their mascot, the Monkey.

Now what about the PG tea pillow? First, let me digress a bit. P. also known as NSAH2 travels a lot (hence his nick-name – Never Stay at Home Husband) for his work, visiting hotels, having meetings and conferences around Asia and the rest of the world. After each trip, he brings back some ‘goodies’: rubber ducks, samples of the latest Spa products, pictures of him and his team, ‘ugly’ candles, Indian tea… Did I say that he works in the hotel business? After each trip, I try to discourage him; we have to save the planet from all the rubbish each of us are producing, and he is not helping by bringing back everything he is given… Digression finished.

The other day, NSAH2 came back from China. We got the usual team picture; I am not going to show this here for respect to my few readers.

The expected Teddy Bear (on this one’s business card, it says '”my interests include getting warm and cuddly with wives, girlfriends and children…” !…)

And a monstrous tea bag, wrapped in bright Chinese fabric. Best of all, it has been monogrammed to my hubby’s initials: PG. Actually it is not a tea bag, but a ‘Lucky golden pillow’ which according to the prospectus will ‘eliminate fatigue, increase work efficiency, decrease stress, reduce high blood pressure, improve vision and can prevent brain cancer’. How come we did not get one earlier?

Mindless post - The before/after game

2010-11-23T09:06:00.001+08:00

BEFORE

AFTER

Can you spot the differences?

The After picture is how I like my perfumes to be displayed; the Before is how I find them each time, after my helper cleaned the bathroom.

The question is: should I mention it? or should I be grateful to have a helper that does most of the tasks I do not like and let me spend more time on the things I like?

Decision made: I will be GRATEFUL!… and rearrange my perfumes

Teddy Bears’ party

2010-11-16T18:51:00.001+08:00

‘For next week, sew the head and stuff it’. That’s how we finished last Friday’s workshop.

A couple of months ago, I had seen this Teddy Bear in a Decoration shop (Lim’s for those of you who live in S’pore). I loved the fact that it was done with Batik. If you remember what I sewed last year (this dress, and this one, this skirt and those two dresses, and here another skirt…), you know that I love Batik. Conclusion, I had to have one of those Batik Teddy Bears, but was not ready to buy it. Where is the fun in buying something you would enjoy making?

I booked myself for a Teddy Bears’ workshop at Brigitte. My first workshop for a long, very long time. I do not go to many workshop as I think that I am able enough to follow a pattern, but on the other hand, it is so nice to share experiences with others, and all the chatting!

Last Friday was the first part of the workshop, only 2 participants.That was great. Back home, I finished my ‘first head’, stuffed it, sewed the arms and belly, stuffed them too… and now what? Wait until next Friday? No, I cut, sewed and stuffed another 3 bears on Sunday, and another 4 on Monday. I am not compulsive, I am just enjoying myself.

To be continued…

Books, books, I love books

2010-11-11T21:39:00.002+08:00

I knit.

I sew.

I embroider.

I cook.

I blog.

and

I read.
Yes I do and not only Tintin au Congo (sorry, private joke with my kids and NSAH2).

Here is what I am reading at the moment:

A great read so far. I started slowly and now I can’t wait to go to bed and read (Yes, Dear Cousin, you are not the only one who cannot go to sleep without having read a few lines).

This one is in preparation of the little visitor who comes to see us in a bit more than a week. We would not want to feed Lady Gaia with processed food, would we?

If you are a Quilting blog addict, you might know Elizabeth Hartman. She is behind Oh Fransson. I started following her blog in 2008. It is so nice to witness her style getting stronger, her technique taking a modern twist, and the colours she uses are so invigorating.

Finally, this one is on my bedside table. Do not be mistaken, it is not to cure night insomnia. I am really reading it.
660 muscles more or less in our body, how lucky we are! Soon I will know all the muscles involved in my arms’ circumduction (love this word, it means that you are doing circles with your arms).

By my bed, I have a large basket of books I am planning to read next: Wolf Hall from Hilary Mantel, Mercy – Toni Morisson (isn’t she a beautiful lady?), Le projet Lazarus – Aleksandar Hemon, Martha Inc., The Laguna – Barbara Kingsolver and I have much more on my ‘ToRead list”. I do not understand how people can get bored, honestly there is so much to read.

PS. Have you notice how I managed to post without any crafting progress? I’ve been revising recently (hence the anatomy book). I am working on Xmas projects and I am going to a ‘Teddy Bear workshop’ tomorrow.

C.U. Later

2010-11-03T22:53:00.004+08:00

Halloween or Toussaints? The first one being fun for kids, and scary. The second one, boring and scary too (in my childhood, on Nov. 1st, we would go from cemetery to cemetery, with my grandmother, paying respect to people we did not know and having tea with [scary] old ladies).

For the Treat or Trick’s party at our condo, J. helped me to prepare sweet bags: more hygienic (it might feel good to be scared, but germs from the neighbourhood travelling on little hands, dipping in my bowl of sweets is not for me!).

Do you like my banner? Not too scary. A. said ‘creepy’, it reminds her of the movie Coraline.

J. has always been my little witch with her eyes of different colour. A good witch though! But, when you are 10, being a witch is no longer fun. This year, she was a Disco Diva (Disco maybe, Diva for sure).

Tonight all the decorations are going down until next year, and shall we start thinking about Xmas?

By the way, if you are wondering what is in our plates this week, here it is: pasta with melted butter.

Candle mat swap

2010-11-01T14:55:00.001+08:00

Today is the day I need to send my finished mat. My birdies are going to… sorry I cannot tell you yet! What I can tell is that they are going to the States, North Carolina to be a bit more specific. I hope my partner likes it. First swap and I am nervous: will it be at the required level of quality? Will my partner like the colour, the arrangement?…

In the other hand, I am very exited to receive mine. I’ve been checking the Flickr pool recently, there are so many lovely realisations. I wonder whether my other partner has post a picture of my mat.

I still have 3 other mats to finish, I hope to send some to my friends in the UK soon.

Our last dinner with Donna Hay…

2010-10-31T17:41:00.004+08:00

… at least for this week!

That was the last day of the Donna Hay series. Beef, it is not something we eat often here. But yesterday I bought some serious Australian sirloin beef. I did not have to add any fat to cook it; it was so nicely marbled, and ended up so tasty. Tomatoes and cucumbers for the salad, sesame oil with garlic and chilli for the dressing – that turned out to be an excellent AND so healthy dinner.

Next week’s menus might feel quite dull after what we had.

To my Dear Readers, I promise as from tomorrow I will blog again about craft!

Chicken Yakitori

2010-10-31T17:36:00.002+08:00

I would have loved to prepare some seafood or fish for Friday night, but J. does not really like fish or seafood. I therefore went for something that would please everybody. I also needed something that would be super fast to prepare; you have to understand that I had been to a hand-on chocolate workshop all afternoon.

The good thing with this recipe is that the preparation is so fast (also I bought my chicken thighs already filleted). You start with the sauce, and while you prepare the salad, the chicken is marinating in the sauce.

15 minutes later, tada!… our dinner is ready.

The verdict: Should I really mention it?…

Donna Hay, 3rd take

2010-10-29T08:45:00.003+08:00

Wednesday was our night out; P. took us to Marina Bay (if you ever come to S’pore, you cannot miss it: it is a hotel in the shape of a boat. It’s huge and it’s the tallest building in the City. From the top, you have a great 360-view). To come back to my story, no cooking for me yesterday.

Making a decision for tonight’s meal was not easy. As I read the recipes aloud to A., she chose the salmon with pea and feta couscous, but I was more tempted by the ‘crispy-skin salmon with chilli salt’. So I had to compromise: ‘crispy-skin salmon with chilli salt’ with Adamame beans and couscous and peas salad.

Here is our dinner in pictures:

The verdict:

Another success. The salmon was sweet and hot all at once, and the couscous has always been one of the kids favourite.
The salmon was a tad too cooked.

Personal message to Donna Hay: “My family and I love you.”

I am not sure what it will be tomorrow. I will need something very light as I am going to a ‘chocolate workshop’, making truffles!

Day 2 with Donna Hay

2010-10-27T09:29:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, I’ve tried the ‘sticky pork fillet with shiitake mushrooms’ (minus the star anise which P. does not like). The preparation was fast and easy (especially when you have a rice-cooker, and somebody that prepares the rice for you!). No fancy ingredients, and being in S’pore the mushrooms are easy to find. Wrapped everything, put it in the oven, just enough time to set the table, and it was ready. I served it with stir fried asparagus and mushrooms to which I added a bit of oyster sauce.

The verdict:

110% success: everybody loved it, the parcel paper was almost eaten too, no grain of rice was left behind, and V. almost ate all his mushrooms.

We’ve got a keeper.

PS1: I know my place mats look a bit dated, but I cannot give them away; my aunty offered them to me when I first started working

PS2: New year’s resolution, MUST take photography lessons.

Cooking my week with donna hay magazine

2010-10-25T21:06:00.001+08:00

You’ve probably seen or read or heard about ‘Julie and Julia’. I have seen the movie which I very much enjoyed, and partially read the book which I did not enjoy as much.

Although I like the idea of experiencing with each recipe, I am not that ambitious, and I have a family to feed, and no life crisis to cure (done that already). So I am not going to cook every single recipe from Julia Child. At the moment, I am more interested in Donna Hay and her magazine. And I love the October issue : ‘Sweet as spring’.

I’ve decided that this week I will make my way through ‘donna hay magazine’. Again, I am not that ambitious, and will restrict myself to the evening meals, 5 to be precise (NSAH2 might take me out at the end of the week, and Sunday, I will improvise with what’s left in the fridge – I should really change my grocery shopping day).

So, first dinner, ‘herb crumbed snapper’ (p70 if you have the magazine). I bought some red snappers and had them filleted. I served the fillets with cabbage and carrots stir-fried (the kids do not like rocket). I replaced the parsley with Chinese parsley.

The verdict:

on the children’s side: they did not like it, too spicy!
on the adults’ side: we loved it. Although I might put fewer herbs next time, we enjoyed the combination of flavours.

1, 2, 3 and 4 (almost) done

2010-10-22T12:24:00.001+08:00

Yes, I’ve done 4 Candle mats so far. The pattern is easy, fast and I find that doing 2 at a time allows me to use a wider variety of fabrics while minimising my ‘leftovers’. I need to add embellishment, choose the backing (one piece, or pieced?), then quilt them (machine or hand?).

Here are the lovelies:

If you want to see more Candle mats from the swat, go and visit the flickr group.

On the impact of S’pore’s weather on my children (!)

2010-10-19T08:40:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, I took the kids shopping. We are going to China (to be precise, we HOPE – but this is another story) next week-end. On Friday, I’ve asked V. to try on his trousers, long-sleeved shirts, jumpers… and guess what, everything he tried on is going to the Salvation Army; nothing fitted, not even his underwear (I should probably say no more – I am not supposed to embarrass anybody on my blog).

So first stop, Gap. For those of you who do not know me, I would say I am quite a nice person, polite, smiling, but I DO NOT like it when the sales assistant ‘jumps’ on me the minute I start looking at a display, and it is what happened at Gap. The story goes like that:

Me, to the Sales Assistant, while looking at jeans in the adult section: “Please, could you help me with the size for my son?

Sales Assistant: “How old is your son?”

Me: “13”

Sales Assistant: “So you should go to the kids department.”

Me: “My son is as tall as you, do you dress in the kids department?'”

Then the kids started ‘Mum!’-me with embarrassed laughs. I have a friend who says “Do not mess with the old women”, she is right, DON’T, we might bite.

Anyway, after the shock of having to re-dress V. from head to toes (Yes, socks too), I bought J. her first pair of shoes in the adult section. OK, Asian ladies tend to have smaller feet, but it is a size 36! So in the end, after a couple of hours of rambling, we came back with shoes for J. and A. (not on the list), skinny jeans and T-shirt for A. (not on the list either), and for V. jeans, shirt, sweatshirt, boxers, socks and bag-pack (his actual one look ridiculously small on his back! and the girls at school have mentioned it).

I cannot believe how much those 3 have grown in the past months. When we moved in Singapore, a year ago, I started measuring the children and recording their progress on the utility room wall. See what the hot weather does to their bodies:

This one was a little girl when we arrived, she is now wearing adult shoes.

This one was a nice teen, she is now thinking about University (and she is still a nice young lady).

What can I say on this one? Soon I will be the smallest one in the household. And it is not only height, but muscles, voice, facial hair…